Al-Harith bin Abdullah said:*" A man from the progeny of Abi Sufyan comes out, from the drought valley, with (an army carrying)*red banners. He has thin arms and thin legs, with long neck, very yellowish (meaning pale) in complexion, on him (can be seen) the mark or sign of worship."*(Nuaim bin Hammad'sKitab Al-Fitan)

Bashar al Assad can't be the sufyani or otherwise, how can their ally will fight with their mahdi. So one of them came up with a very plausible explanation.
Since the sunnis that rebelled name their battalions as the following;

Bashar al Assad can't be the sufyani or otherwise, how can their ally will fight with their mahdi. So one of them came up with a very plausible explanation.
Since the sunnis that rebelled name their battalions as the following;

Sufyani? Can someone explain what this is .. I heard this term many years ago and always thought it was a 'shia' thing.
A quick explanation and hadiths about it would be appreciated.
JazakAllah Khair

Sufyani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sufyani (Arabic: السفياني), is an evil, apocryphal character of Islamic eschatology. The Sufyani will emerge before the Mahdi from the depths of Damascus.

The term "Sufyani" is a term referring to his descent from the progeny of Abu Sufyan. He will be one of many Muslim tyrants that the Mahdi will have to face in the Middle East. The Sufyani is not the Dajjal. The Ahadith regarding the Sufyani specify that he is a tyrant who will spread corruption and mischief on the earth before the Mahdi. He will be such a tyrant that he will kill the children and rip out the bellies of women. The Sufyani will murder those from the household of the Prophet and will rule over Syria. When he hears about the Mahdi, he will send an army to seize and kill him. However the earth will swallow this army before it even reaches the Mahdi.

Abu Hurayrah has narrated that the Prophet said:

A man will emerge from the depths of Damascus. He will be called Sufyani. Most of those who follow him will be from the tribe of Kalb. He will kill by ripping the stomachs of women and even kill the children. A man from my family will appear in the Haram, the news of his advent will reach the Sufyani and he will send to him one of his armies. He (referring to the Mahdi) will defeat them. They will then travel with whoever remains until they come to a desert and they will be swallowed. None will be saved except the one who had informed the others about them. (Mustadrak Al-Hakim)

The Sufyani will be followed, for the most part, by the tribe of Kalb, and will have fought with anyone daring to oppose him. Injustice will rule the day and his disregard for life will reach the point where defenseless women will be ripped open and innocent children slain unmercifully. The tribe of Qays will rise up against him, however, they will not succeed, and he will slaughter all of them.

The Sufyani's army will go to Kufa; a city in Iraq, and from there he will launch an attack against the people of Khurasan. At the Gate of Istakhr, Shuayb bin Salih and the Hashimite under the black banners, will join forces and engage the army of the Sufyani. The battle will be extremely fierce with a tremendous loss of life and the army of the Sufyani will suffer a temporary defeat. It is at this time that a yearning for the Mahdi's appearance is on the lips of everyone.

The army of the Sufyani will march from the direction of Iraq to seize the Mahdi, however, when they reach the desert near Dhi Hulayfah the ground will swallow them up. However, two will escape to convey the news but even when he learns of the occurrence he will not be deterred. There will be some people from the Quraysh who manage to escape from him to Constantinople, which will be at that time under the control of the Non-Muslims. When the Sufyani asks for their return they will be returned whereupon not only the escapees' throats will be slit but those like them.

Khalid bin Ma'dan said:

The Sufyani will emerge with three staffs in his hand. Anyone whom he strikes with them will die. (Nu'aym bin Hammad)

The Sufyani is a man whose trial involves his person, his power, his speed and his fighting. One of his wonders consists of his staffs, which kill anyone he strikes with them. The hadith about the Sufyani confirms that he is a tyrant who will spread corruption and crime in the Earth immediately before the appearance of the Mahdi.

Details of the Sufyani

Name and Title

According to Imam Qurtubi, his name will be 'Urwa bin Muhammad and his kunniya is 'Abu Utbah' and is given the title "Sufyani" due to his descent from Abu Sufyan.

Physical characteristics

He will be a man with a large head, a pockmarked face, and white spots in his eyes.

Family Lineage

The Sufyani will be from the progeny of Yazid bin Mu'awiya. His mother will be from the tribe of Kalb, but he is from the progeny of Khalid bin Yazid bin Abu Sufyan.

Character

Outwardly he will appear to be pious, but in reality he will be an apostate.

Details of his emergence and rule

The blacks will come after the Arabs and they will be defeated and thrown into the lowest part of the earth. In revolt, a Sufyani (possibly by the name of 'Urwah ), who descends from Abu Sufyan, and whose mother is from the tribe of Kalb, will come (possibly from Egypt) with 360 riders until he reaches Damascus. Then he will emerge - overrunning and seizing control of Syria. He will have three staffs in his hand, and anyone whom he strikes with them will die. After a month the tribe of Kalb will also follow him. The Sufyani will then send an army to Iraq, killing 100,000 in Al-Zawra', and also will receive the support of the Non-Muslims fs. The Sufyani and his forces will go to Kufa and pillage it, killing the descendants of the Prophet and to the point where he kills children and rips open women. In retaliation the tribe of Qays will rise up against him, but they will be defeated, and he will slaughter them in Kurkisa. One of them will escape to Muslim, and then the forces of the Sufyani will come, demanding the Muslims. Then an army carrying black banners will come, and at their front is a youth from the tribe of Tamim named Shu'ayb bin Salih, along with a Hashimite. They will engage the forces of the Sufyani at the Gate of Istakhr (in southern Iran) and will defeat them, however, the riders will escape. The Muslim, after suffering from the battle, will demand the Mahdi out of necessity. Then an army of the Sufyani will go to Medina, and pillages it for three days, and those who escape will flee to Mecca. Several men from the Quraysh will escape to Istanbul and the Sufyani will send to the leader of the Romans who returns them to the Sufyani and he slits their throats together with their followers.

When the story of Divine Help being granted to the Mahdi spreads throughout the Muslim world, the Abdaals of Syria will come to pledge allegiance to the Mahdi and join his ranks. Similarly, other Muslim armies from Medina and elsewhere will also come to Mecca and offer their support and allegiance to the Mahdi. The Imam will leave Mecca for Medina, where he will offer salaam at the Rowzha Mubarak (The Grave of Muhammad). Soon after, the forces of the Mahdi will move onward from Medina, and engage the forces of the Sufyani at Syria. The Sufyani’s forces will be defeated in Syria, and this will be known as the "Battle of Kalb". The Muslim fighters under the Mahdi will capture the Sufyani and execute him under a tree and Syria would thus be liberated from the tyrannical rule of the Sufyani.

The authenticity of Hadith about Sufyani

The Prophet supposedly said, upon him blessings and peace: "I warn you against seven kinds of dissension" mentioning, among them, a dissension that hails from the East – that is, Najd – and a dissension that hails from within Sham – and that, the Companion-narrator supposedly said, is al-Sufyani.

Narrated from Ibn Mas`ud by Nu`aym ibn Hammad in Kitab al-Fitan (1:55) and, from him, by al-Hakim in the Mustadrak (4:468-469=1990 ed. 4:515) who declared it sahih, while al-Dhahabi said: "This is one of the marvels of Nu`aym ibn Hammad." The chain also contains al-Walid ibn `Ayyash who is unknown. In his chapter on Nu`aym in the Siyar, al-Dhahabi said: "Nu`aym is among the huge receptacles of knowledge but there is always a nagging suspicion as to his narrations."

It would be safer to stick to the similar but unspecific hadiths of Hudhayfa in the Sahihayn or those from Umm Salama, Abu Hurayra, and Abu Sa`id al-Khudri in the Sunan. All of them mention the Mahdi without naming the Sufyani. And Allah knows best.

I have a huge book on every Hadith related to the Mahdi, their sources, who narrated them, their explanations, their grading and so on... I'd estimate 95% of Hadith on the Mahdi are pure fabrications by people with wide imagination, al-Suffiyani is a part of these fabrications, sadly some people believe in this idiotic story of the Suffiyani which is Munkar Matnan before it is Munkar Sanadan.

I have a huge book on every Hadith related to the Mahdi, their sources, who narrated them, their explanations, their grading and so on... I'd estimate 95% of Hadith on the Mahdi are pure fabrications by people with wide imagination, al-Suffiyani is a part of these fabrications, sadly some people believe in this idiotic story of the Suffiyani which is Munkar Matnan before it is Munkar Sanadan.

Because al-Suffiyani from what I recall is supposed to be from the descendants of abu Suffiyan (ra), right? Now why would Allah make such an evil man be from his progeny and the progeny of Mu'awiyah (ra)? (Hint, Shia made it up), If a person embraced Islam and became a companion, usually Allah would give him glad tidings and honor him, that's how it goes usually, Allah wouldn't tell a man who embraced Islam that from his progeny will be one of the most evil men to ever exist and will try to kill the Mahdi (as). This indirectly shows that abu Suffian (ra) is evil and Mu'awiyah (ra) is evil in the sight of Allah as it is nothing short of a curse, heck if the Muslims knew this no one would trust this family or grant them the position of Caliphate that would be pure idiocy as it would be like handing the Caliphate over to someone who could possibly be the Suffiyani, this reminds me of one of those dumb Shia claims that once upon a time the Prophet (SAWS) was taking a walk with his companions and suddenly he met 'Aisha (ra) and he pointed his finger at her saying "She is the horn of the devil" then they casually continued their walk, whereas in reality if this had happened they would have jumped on her and killed her... Saying that the Suffiyani is from the progeny of Yazid (Who probably wasn't born at the time) is pretty much the same as saying that al-Dajjal is from the progeny of abu Suffiyan (ra) and Mu'awiyah (ra), that is something which would flush all their virtues down the toilet if you don't mind me saying and is pointless.

Imagine I was abu Suffian (ra) and I embraced Islam, then the Prophet (SAWS) will tell me "From your progeny will come the most evil man", wouldn't I be angry at my Lord? I would think that it is unfair, how would the people look at me after that? pointing their fingers and saying "From this man will come an evil tyrant", who the heck would give me his daughter for marriage then?

But it doesn't stop here my fiend, in reality there are countless fabrications, not only the Suffiyani, there is also al-Yamani and al-Masri and al-Khurasani and al-bla bla... like 10 or 20 people who are supposed to be super villains .......... as if al-Dajjal wasn't enough (And he's proven from Sahih Hadiths and Ahlul-Kitab scriptures).

Sheikh Mashour Salman discussed the narrations of the Suffiyani in his book "al-'Iraq" from page 500 until page 651, he says in conclusion: "The Ahadith of the Suffiyani are fabricated, he is not mentioned in the two Sahihs, nor is he mentioned in any of the famous books of Sunnan, we had previously stated the opinion of the Huffadth on this character."

I've also read that the fabrication of the Suffiyani was originally intended to be attributed to Yazid, he was supposed to be the Suffiyani.

I have a huge book on every Hadith related to the Mahdi, their sources, who narrated them, their explanations, their grading and so on... I'd estimate 95% of Hadith on the Mahdi are pure fabrications by people with wide imagination, al-Suffiyani is a part of these fabrications, sadly some people believe in this idiotic story of the Suffiyani which is Munkar Matnan before it is Munkar Sanadan.

hi check this books it has all authentic hadiths about Mahdi , its both in Arabic and Urdu